The address of this home is now 326 Oakland Ave., but was once also #318 Oakland. It has always been known as the Strait Home. Built for Mrs. Rosa G. Strait (1870-1969), the widow of Rock Hill’s first surgeon, Dr. William Francis Strait (1854-1898), the house became a central gathering point for the extended family. This included members of the Gaston, Strait, Wylie, Quantz, Lyle, Reid, Roddey, Guess, Fairey, Fennell and Dunlap families who were all kin and cousins of either the late Dr. Strait or his widow Mrs. Rosa Perry Gaston Strait.  Mrs. Strait lived in the home from ca. 1906 until her death in December 1969 and is buried at Laurelwood Cemetery. Her daughter, Mrs. Rosa B. Guess continued living in the home until the mid 1980′s.

This home was constructed prior to the Quantz home, Mrs. Strait’s sisters house on College Avenue. The A.T. Quantz home was designed by local architect Julian S. Starr, Sr., and due to the strong similarities, the Strait home is also being credited to Mr. Starr who many have also served as the contractor.

While Dr. Strait was practicing medicine and starting their family, they lived on Johnston Street in downtown Rock Hill.  Dr. Strait practiced with his partner Tom Crawford and they maintained a clinic on Hampton Street. He was active in civic affairs and worked closely with his cousin, Joe Roddey and others to bring Winthrop College to Rock Hill.  He and Rosa, were also charter members of the First ARP Church of Rock Hill and his funeral was the first held in the unfinished church, following his death, in 1898. Sometimes in the early 20th century, his widow Rosa, began building the home on the corner of Oakland and Strait streets, ca. 1904. It was in this home that she raised her three children; Wm. Frank Strait, Jr., M.D., Mrs. Isabelle W. Fairey, and Rosa B. Guess. Next to her home, on Oakland Ave., lived her brother Joe Gaston and his wife Jennie O. Gaston and behind her on the corner of Strait Street and College Avenue lived her other sister, Mrs. Theodore Quantz and her extended family. She remained very close to her Gaston, Strait, Wylie, and Baskin kinsmen in Chester County throughout her lifetime and spent most summers with her daughter Isabelle Fairey at her home in St. Matthews, SC.

Both of her daughters, Mr. Isabelle W. Strait Fairey and Mrs. Rosa B. Strait Guess were early graduates of Winthrop College, the school their father had worked to bring to Rock Hill. Wm. Frank Strait, Jr., also followed in his father’s profession and became one of Rock Hill’s leading MD’s, living on College Ave., with his wife and three children.

Along with Mrs. Strait, her daughter, Mrs. Rosa B. Guess, also a widow with three children moved in with her mother following the death of her husband in Denmark, SC., the late Mr. A.P. Guess. Fondly known as  “Rosa B”, she taught thousands of Rock Hill High School students music and was the choir directors for decades at First Presbyterian Church.

Mary White, the daughter of Ann and George White, now living at the White Home contracted for the second manse to be constructed at 229 East White St., Rock Hill, SC for the Rev. J.K Coit who was the minster at the White’s Chapel church on Wilson Street. The church originally was located on Wilson Street behind the Rock Hill Cotton Factory. The location of the manse as well as the ARP Church have been reported as the location of the White Family’s orchards.

White family documents show extensive materials being purchased by Mary White via R.T. Fewell and Co., Mitchell Lumber Co., William Bates (brick contractor), and through W.M. Mitchell the contractor for the house and most likely the White’s Memorial Chapel.

The Herald reported on Sept. 2, 1891 that Miss Mary White contracted with Wm. Mitchell to erect a manse on the vacant lot on White Street opposite the residence of Mrs. J. C. Witherspoon, and work was commenced yesterday. It will be a two-story house with 8 rooms.

FIRST ASSOCIATE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

This church began as a mission work in the summer of 1895 when Arthur Small Rogers, a seminary student at Erskine Theological Seminary, was sent to Rock Hill to hold services.  The rural areas around Rock Hill had a number of Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) Churches dating back to the 1700s, but two previous efforts to organize the church’s members in Rock Hill had been unsuccessful.  Rogers arrived on July 4 and began holding services in Armory Hall on Main Street.  From the beginning the new work was a success.  Arthur Rogers returned to the Seminary in the fall to complete his education, and area ARP ministers preached during the winter of 1895-96.  The congregation was organized on November 19, 1895 with 26 charter members.  Arthur Rogers returned following his graduation from the Seminary and was installed as minister.  He immediately began raising funds for a church building, both locally and throughout the ARP denomination.  In 1896, a lot was purchased on White Street from Mrs. Ann White and A. H. White.  The site, now on the corner of East White Street and Oakland Avenue, had been part of the White family’s apple orchard.  The architect selected for the building was C. C. Hook of Charlotte.  Construction on the sanctuary was begun in 1897 and completed in the spring of 1898.  The brick sanctuary building features a dominant bell tower at left front with a smaller tower at right front and a polygonal projecting wing in the center.  The left tower has a spire with finial, rounded arch openings, and tall paired traceried windows with granite lintels and sills. There are matching rose windows in the front-facing gable and the side gables.

The 1898 sanctuary continues to serve the congregation today.  There was an addition to the rear in 1911 which enlarged the auditorium, added space for a pipe organ and small classrooms, and changed the ceiling design. (This addition is credited to local architect Julian S. Starr, Sr. at a cost of $6,000.).  In 1929, a three-story educational building was added to the east.  This building was enlarged in 1964.  In the early 1990s, a gym was added and an adjacent furniture store was acquired and renovated to become a new activities and education building.

Rev. Arthur S. Rogers was pastor of the church from the first meeting in 1895 until his retirement in 1948.  Subsequent senior ministers have been Rev. William Pressly Grier, Jr., Rev. Henry Lewis Smith, Dr. Robert J. Robinson, and Dr. J. Barry Dagenhart. [Paul M. Gettys 9/1/2011]